St Albans High School for Girls January 2015 Newsletter

January 2015Newsletter

Headmistress:Mrs Jenny Brown MA Oxon

[email protected]

www.stahs.org.uk

I’m sitting swathed in a singing festive

jumper, courtesy of the School Officers,

ready to leap into carol practice and

reflecting on my first High School term.

At the risk of Christmas sentiment, it has

felt like coming home. The richness of the

term’s events and opportunities is

apparently standard here, but strikes a

newcomer most forcibly. The pace of

the last half term is extraordinary. These

girls are not just talented, they are

indefatigable.

I do hope they and you had a most restful

Christmas and a very happy New Year and

if you will forgive the bowdlerisation of a

Christmas classic, celebrate the end of a

lively term with some festive doggerel:

On the first week before Christmas, theHigh School gave to me:One carol service,Two speeches at Prizegiving, Three nights of West Side Story,Four superb Houses,Five lacrosse wins…Six brilliant concerts,Seven new Head’s challenges,Eight dazzling school trips,Year 9s options choosingAnd a glowing report from the H - M - C!

2 St Albans High School for Girls

We were delighted to welcome Shami Chakrabarti,

Director of Liberty, to present the awards and

certificates at this year’s event. Mrs Brown was also

joined by Miss Dorothy Henderson, Chair of

Governors, Cllr Geoff Harrison, Mayor of St Albans

and Dr Dame Claire Bertschinger, Deputy Lord

Lieutenant of Hertfordshire and Trustee of the

African Children’s Educational Trust.

To commemorate the centenary of the

First World War, Senior School pupils filed out of

assembly in silence each carrying a poppy. With

thoughts of those lives lost in battle they laid them

in front of the school on Remembrance Day.

Lest We Forget

Presentation of Prizes

Mrs Jenny Brown

Headmistress

Lett

er

from

the H

ead

mistr

ess

January 2015 | Newsletter

Community

Service of Lessonsand Carols

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban resonated

with the sound of music when pupils, staff, parents and

invited guests joined members of the school’s choirs in a

joyful rendition of some of our most loved Christmas carols.

Just before the start of term Mrs Brown and

her identical twin, Jane Lunnon, Head of

Wimbledon High School, discussed friendly

rivalry, joint ambitions and girls’ education in

The Telegraph:

http://goo.gl/ZyFVDN

Two Heads...

They collected seeds from the forest floor,explored what types of animals and plants livein the forest as well as understanding why andhow they can look after the environment. Thegirls also enjoyed opportunities to exploreoutside as part of other lessons. After reading‘Walking through the Jungle’, they went ontheir own jungle walk, looked for animals andwrote sentences about what they could see.

Happy New Year from Wheathampstead

House! As we look back over the last

term there have been many highlights and

we hope that the various sections in the

newsletter from the Prep School will give

you a flavour of this. In regular visits to the

classroom it is always special for me to

see how engaged and enthusiastic the

girls are about their learning. Outdoor

learning and the expanding Forest School

programme continue to be very popular

with all year groups. The creativity and

diversity of the teaching ensures dynamic

and fun learning opportunities for all our

girls. Their progress and achievements are

evident in the vibrant displays around

school and we celebrate their successes

regularly in assemblies too. The girls’

confidence is clear, both within class-

based discussions and in the various

concerts, services and plays leading up to

the Christmas holidays.

A new term brings new adventures for

the girls and we look forward to sharing

these with you in the coming months.

With best wishes.

Hats offto Year 3!

Read allabout it!

Lett

er

from

the H

ead

of th

e P

repar

atory

Sch

ool

Year 4 explored the

world of newsprint,

honing their skills as

journalists by reporting

events, interviewing key

witnesses and editing their

articles. They devised sensational

headlines, using alliteration, pun and

metaphor. Writing in the third person

and in the past tense, they wrote

concise and punchy articles, backed

up with facts and figures.

News coverage included alien

visitors, escapes from zoos and the

kidnapping of one of the Queen’s

corgis. Their work is proudly

displayed in the classrooms – do

come to ‘read all about it’.

St Albans High School for Girls | Prep 3

Ms Gillian Bradnam

Head of the Preparatory School


Year 3 went to the

Walter Wright Hat

Factory in Luton as part

of history and D&T

topics. Each class found

out about the history of

the hat industry in

Luton. They were

inspired to design and

make their own cat

beanie hat.

Creativity

An eyeopener

Pupils in Reception had a wonderful termsettling into school life at WheathampsteadHouse, enjoying in particular the manyopportunities they had to explore the schoolgrounds. Forest School was just one of thoseopportunities and was a great learningexperience for the pupils.

Disco

vering

Rom

an li

fe

Year 1 had an exciting visit to

St Albans Abbey to participate in

two workshops. The first entailed

listening to the tragic story of

St Alban and learning about the

history of everyday life in Roman

Verulamium. The girls took part in

a ‘materials trail’ and enjoyed

exploring the Cathedral to handle

the Roman brick, flint and limestone

used in its construction.

In English, the girls enjoyed taking on the role of ‘Wild Animal

Experts’ and independently researched an animal of their choice.

They then used an iPad to each create an exciting eBook, taking

photographs of their illustrations and adding interesting facts.

They enjoyed adding contents and glossary pages and then seeing

their books enlarged on the whiteboard screen using Apple TV!

Year 2 joined the Ancient Crime Squad and assisted them in answering the

question ‘Was Tutankhamun killed?’ They researched Tutankhamun and how

his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. They learnt all about the

treasures in his tomb and what they tell us about life in Ancient Egypt. After

reading scientists’ findings from x-rays, CT scans and a DNA test of

Tutankhamun’s mummy, the girls then wrote a report explaining what they

think happened.

On 19 November, Year 6 went to RAF Hendon to

study World War 2.


4 St Albans High School for Girls | Prep

The second workshop

involved the girls having

to explore the Cathedral

to search for interesting

designs and patterns to use

as inspiration for making

their own clay tiles. On

return to school, the tiles

were then decorated using

special gold, silver and

bronze paints.

The mystery of Tutankhamun

Community

Off to a flying start

“At first we made our own gas mask boxes. We then heard an

alarm which would have happened in the war when bombs

were dropping close by. It gave me a fright! We hid in a bomb

shelter until we heard the

siren which told us it was

safe to come outside. We

also tried on RAF uniforms

that had been used in the

war to specify which type of

fighter you were. Another

activity was to sketch one of

the planes which were on

display. I drew a bomber that

could fit eight crew men

inside. I found it quite hard

to draw because there were

so many details.”

By Kate, 6S

Learning about therole of an ARP warden

Cre

ative

tech

nolo

gy

Year 4s went to the RSPB reserve to

pond dip and use their knowledge

about food webs to solve problems

and to explore the reserve.

The Year 6 Fencing Club is lucky to have an inspirationalcoach. Dominique Szokolovics is currently a member of theGB Fencing team and returned last term from theCommonwealth Games where her team won a Bronzemedal. The girls were thrilled to see her medal and enjoyedhearing about her experience. Great progress has been madeas the girls take up this new sport.

We hosted Stormont, St Hilda’s, Westbrook Hay

and Haberdashers last term and it was great to

have our Year 3 swimming for the first time for the

school. All the galas were very well supported

creating a fabulous atmosphere and the girls swam

really well ensuring a victory for us in all fixtures.

Last term some of the Year 6 girls

completed the more advanced

Orange orienteering courses. Jenna,

Francesca, Kiera, Stephanie, Isabelle,

Emeline, Isabelle and Yasmin are

currently placed in the top ten

within their age groups. Their

excellent performances mean that

St Albans are currently placed 2nd

in the Hertfordshire Schools’

League and are in 1st place in the

Maureen Webster Memorial Trophy

competition.

Prep sport The Year 4 Netball squad continue todevelop their knowledge of rules andtactics and started the season with a veryproductive training match againstStormont, winning one of the two games.

31 pupils regularly attend Netball Clubpractice after school. All girls played in amatch against Stormont in which the Ateam won 8-1. The girls clearly really enjoyplaying and are very competitive.

It was a very busy first term with friendlymatches against Habs, Stormont, Abbot’sHill and Manor Lodge. It is a credit to thegirls’ enthusiasm and commitment that wecan field four teams with strength anddepth. We won two league matches againstCunningham Hill and Fleetville and we lookforward to more fixtures in the Lent term.

All those who take part thoroughly enjoy the

sessions run by St Albans City Youth coaches. Girls

from the Pre-Prep and Prep department attend

different sessions. A fixture was organised for the

Year 3 and 4 team last term against St Hilda’s School

and the girls really benefitted from the experience,

winning the match 5-0. We hope to facilitate more

fixtures this term.


5St Albans High School for Girls | Prep

Girls in Year 5 created an amazing

model solar system.

Science snippets

In Year 3 girls explored shadowsand made sundials.

The team is currently 2nd in the District Cross

Country league with two more races to run in the

Lent term. Special mention to Charlotte who came

2nd in the last race and Emeline who came 4th,

Isabelle who came 6th and Morgan came 14th from

a field of 96 girls.

Orienteering

Year 6 pupils used diffraction glasses

to learn how light is made up of seven

colours.

Year 3 & 4 Football Cluband Pre-Prep ball skills

Cross Country

Netball

Ye

ar 4

Y

ear 5

Ye

ar 6

Sw

imm

ing

Fencing

Girls in the Gymnastics

clubs continue to have fun

but also work hard

rehearsing group routines,

improving their vaulting and

perfecting set sequences.

Working as a whole group

and with a partner, progress

has been made in flexibility,

strength and power. We

look forward to displays and

competitions in the Lent

term.

Mrs Fletcher’s andMrs Burdett’s

Gym Clubs

On 29 November, ten members of the new Tech

No Logic Club attended the First Lego League

competition at Duxford Imperial War Museum. This

was the first time the school had entered the

competition, and the girls were eager to

demonstrate the programming and robot building

skills they had developed. Competing against schools

from the region in Lego robot assault courses, they

then faced tough questions from the judging panel

about their robot design. The team also prepared a

video presentation to answer the question: “How

can we improve the way girls learn about and use

technology?”. Tech No Logic Club has received an

impressive interest from girls of all years, including

excellent help from Sixth Formers. The girls worked

incredibly hard in preparation for the competition,

and Dr Hutton and Mrs Sapsford were immensely

proud of their efforts on the day.

Congratulations to Ella in Year 8 who, for the second

year running, won the Rotary Young Chef

Competition, and to Christabel in Year 10 who came

third. Ella was required to cook a two course healthy

meal for two people and presented the judges with

crisp-skinned rainbow trout with potatoes, beetroot

and horseradish sauce followed by hot lemon sponge.

She was presented with a silver salver by the Deputy

Mayor of St Albans at the event held at Marlborough

Science Academy. Ella will go forward to the

competition for Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire

Young Chefs in February 2015.

Headed forthe USA

Tech

No

Logi

c

With a team of four Year 7 and 8 girls

from each House, the Library held its

annual Kids’ Lit Quiz in November.

They answered questions such as

“Which epic poem talks about Bess the

landlord’s black-eyed daughter?” and

“Helen’s Big World was a picture book

biography about which famous Helen

who overcame her world of darkness and

silence?”.

It became a very lively affair with

several questions thrown out to the

keen team of supporters in the

audience too! In the end Paris House

were the winners. Congratulations to

Lauren, Abi, Katherine and Evie and a

huge thank you to everyone involved

who helped make it such fun.


6 St Albans High School for Girls | Senior

Rotary Young Chef

Kids’ Lit Quiz

Competition time!

Kids’ Lit Quiz winning team

Year 13 student Ellie is one

of only five young women in

the UK to be selected to go

to Arizona to the ‘Grace

Hopper Celebration of

Women in Computing’

conference which will be

the world’s largest gathering

of women technologists.

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths

Readathon

The English Department are delighted to announcethat £1378.10 has been raised in this year’ssponsored Readathon event. Whilst ourenthusiastic readers benefited from reading booksfor pleasure, the money they raised from suchgenerous sponsorship will go to help seriously illchildren throughout the UK and will also helpprovide free books for participating schools.

Photograph byNeil Harris

The structural challenges of adding an extra floorhave been significant, including strengthening thefoundations of the existing building. The PhysicsDepartment, displaced from some of itslaboratories while the structural work was inprocess, regained those laboratories after Octoberhalf term and the refurbished chemistrylaboratory on the ground floor is now in full use.

Work continues to transformthe old Senior School Hall intonew science laboratories,multi-subject spaces, andmeeting and tutorial rooms.

Cross-curriculartechnology day


7St Albans High School for Girls | Senior

Cre

ativ

ity

In classics, students related the story of

the wooden horse of Troy to the idea

of a ‘Trojan horse’ in a computer

whereby, in a similar way to the

Greeks, an unwelcome virus can enter

a system via a scam in which people

are invited to click on a temptingly

interesting link. The girls had fun

devising their own ‘pretend’ scams and

explored the relationship between

news dissemination in Ancient Greece

and the Twitter effect of modern times.

In mathematics, learning about

cryptography, the science of secret

communication, girls were introduced

to the idea of a substitution cipher

where each letter of the alphabet is

substituted for a different letter. One

of the methods discussed to crack the

cipher was frequency analysis, where

the frequency of letters or groups of

letters in the cipher text is studied.

Girls quickly grasped the idea that E, T,

A, O and I are the most common

letters in the English language and then

settled down to some serious code-

breaking!

One specific session focussed on

deconstructing a Facebook account.

Girls used the information gleaned to

construct a phishing email designed to

acquire sensitive information about this

Facebook user. This gave them the

opportunity to put themselves inside

the minds of a hacker and in doing so,

be able to better protect themselves

online. They also developed what they

had learned in ICT lessons to discuss

different types of hacker, the ethics

involved and the growing number of

career opportunities in the world of

cyber security.

The day ended with an exploration of

legal and intellectual property matters

related to the online world.

On 24 September, two cyber

security experts worked alongside

the ICT, Classics and Mathematics

Departments to develop the digital

wisdom and understanding of girls

in Year 9. A presentation by an ex-

pupil, who now works in this

growing field, was followed by an

introduction to issues surrounding

cyber security and eSafety by Rhian

Kavanagh from Secure Futures.

Wednesday lunchtimes see girls enthused by Mr Chandler’s

Engineering Club where last term they constructed tensile

bridges and looked into the physics of flight. This

oversubscribed club re-starts in January with many

experiments and activities to enthuse the students.

At the end of November, eight Year 9 girls went to the

DigiGirlz conference at Microsoft in London. As part of an

action-packed day girls received information about possible

routes into technology careers either through STEM subjects

or Design. Taking part in a challenge to make a video advert

for a new app, they were required to sell their idea to a senior

management team. The task was aimed at showing how

creativity and teamwork are important skills alongside the

more technical. Holly in 9V reflects: “My favourite thing about

the day was listening to women that work in Microsoft talk about

the different areas they work in. It gave me a wider range of

thoughts about the areas of work available in STEM for women.”

In early December girls from Years 9-13 went to an

Astronomy evening at the Royal Masonic School for Girls. A

talk was given on ‘The search for Aliens’ by UCL lecturer

Professor Francisco Diego. Girls then elected to attend

workshops on a range of topics including the search for extra-

solar plants and a talk given by Dr Hutton on measuring the

size of the universe.

Throughout the term, students applying for science-related

degrees attended discussions and preparation sessions both

at the High School and collaboratively with regional

institutions. These included an evening of mock interviews to

prepare for Oxbridge physics and engineering interviews at

Merchant Taylors’ School and being interviewed by staff at

St Columba’s College.

MedVetSoc had an active and productive half term with two

alumnae returning to provide after-school discussion forums

for Years 10-13 considering a career in medicine. Dr Lewis

(Consultant Paediatrician) and Dr Chakravorty (medicine

interview panel at Imperial) then kindly provided insightful

information concerning their roles within the profession and

facilitated mock interviews for the Year 13 medical applicants.

The students never fail to impress with their enthusiasm,

commitment and ability to develop ideas and interest in

Science. It has certainly been a busy term!

STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths

The new roof was put in placein December ensuring thebuilding was watertight.Internal fit-out will continueduring the Lent term. Uponcompletion, the additionalspace will provide impressivenew facilities for the ScienceDepartment and for the restof the school. This projectrepresents another significantstep in ensuring that HighSchool girls continue tobenefit from outstandingfacilities in which to learn.

update

Development

DigiGirlz

Student Investor

Number crunchingLast term was very busy for the school’s senior

mathematicians!

On 23 September, 12 brave students from Years 11-13

volunteered to take the two and a half-hour long

Mathematical Olympiad for Girls examination. Nationally,

1637 girls took this very difficult paper with a median

score of 6 out of 50! Despite this daunting level of

challenge, six of our girls (two in each year group)

managed to achieve a certificate of distinction.

On 6 November, 69 girls from Years 12 and 13 took part

in the Senior Mathematics Challenge, with 48 of them

being awarded certificates. 23 girls were awarded

bronze, 23 silver and five gold – two of whom were

invited to participate in the Senior Kangaroo follow-on

round.

On 20 November, Sixth Formers Heidi, Madeline, Ellie

and Rebecca, took part in the UKMT Senior Team Maths

Challenge, hosted at Longdean School in Hemel

Hempstead. Testing mathematical, communication and

teamwork skills, our team performed admirably in every

round. Against extremely fierce competition, they

eventually finished 18th out of 24 teams.

Heidi writes:

“The Senior Team Maths Challenge was a great opportunity

to practise maths skills by applying what we have learnt in

lessons to the variety of abstract problems presented to us.

As well as the longer questions, one of the more exciting

sections of the afternoon included the ‘cross number’

challenge. Working in pairs, we were required to solve parts

of the puzzle. Not only did we have to complete the maths

correctly but we also had to think tactically in order to solve

the questions which would prove to be the most beneficial

to help with other pairs’ clues too.”


8 St Albans High School for Girls | Senior

GCSE and A Level Art students enjoyed working with the

visiting Artist in Residence, James Lake, last term.

James has been specialising in cardboard for more than a

decade. He believes it is an easy medium to work with as it

is lightweight, strong, and can be manipulated, adapted and

changed. The students found his work with disability and the

human form to be inspiring. They also found working with

cardboard, as a new technique, and the structural building

process, to be really intriguing.

Art students were delighted to attend a talk by sculptor and

environmental artist, Diane Maclean. Diane has exhibited

her work widely in the UK and around the world and many of her

sculptures are held in public and private collections. One of her most

recent works is ‘Open Book’, a gift unveiled by HM The Queen in June

2014, to the city of Paris to celebrate the enduring friendship between

France and Great Britain.

Visiting artists

Teams from Years 10-13 have been

competing in this online stock

market challenge since October.

One of our teams, the STAHS

Dream Team, is currently ranked

249th out of 8663 teams! The team

of four girls from Year 10 started

with a virtual portfolio worth

£100,000 and watched it increase in

value as they carefully bought and

sold shares in FTSE 100 companies.

The competition finishes at the end

of January and all our teams are

hoping to be in first place as the

prize is a trip to New York!

Com

munity

Vocab Express

On 21 November, Year 8 German classes went

to the Christmas Market in Aachen. We were

all very excited when we arrived because it had

been a long journey and we couldn’t wait to get

to the market! The variety of things to buy was

incredible and the setting was beautiful with

fairy lights and Christmas trees. Nearby was an

amazing Cathedral. After a wonderful afternoon

at the markets we headed to a restaurant

before arriving tired at our hotel. It had been

an eventful day and everyone was exhausted so

we went straight to sleep. In the morning, after

breakfast, we had a small tour around Aachen

and then spent some more time in the market.

Before we got back on the coach for our long

journey home we had a delicious lunch in the

Pizzeria! We all really enjoyed the experience

and had many souvenirs to take home with us.

A festive fair


Senior St Albans High School for Girls | Sixth 9

On 25 November, Year 13 Economics students visited the

Bank of England where they learnt the history of our

central bank and its role in monetary policy. Visiting the

Department for International Development on Whitehall,

they were fortunate to receive a fascinating talk from a

successful female economist. She highlighted the work of

the department and brought to life the topics the girls had

been studying, and showed them a variety of career

options available following a degree in economics. The final

part of the day was the Royal Economic Society’s annual

lecture at the Royal Institution. This year an engaging and

thought-provoking lecture was given by Stephanie

Flanders (former BBC Economics Editor) on the lessons

that economists and journalists can learn from each other.

Bank of England

By Sophie, Year 8

At the end of November, Mrs Crowther accompanied a small

group of Sixth Formers on an Italian study and enrichment day at

St Paul’s Girls’ School in London. They were treated to an inspiring

and thought-provoking day which covered a wide range of topics

including Dante’s Divine Comedy as portrayed in classical music,

the Futurism movement in Italian art, and 20th century Italian

literature of the fantastic.

Italian day

As part of our activities to mark the EuropeanDay of Languages, the whole school participated in an onlinenationwide vocab learning competition – the ‘Vocab ExpressLeague of Champions’ in which almost 33000 students in over 200schools took part. Charlie in Year 11 achieved a fantastic score(27515 points) which meant she was in 16th place for French outof all the students nationwide who took part.

The Senior Chamber Choir and

students of German and History

embarked on an action-packed

cultural fest to Vienna.

Grüß Gott Wien

Highlights of the trip included visits to the Christmas markets, a

performance of the magic flute, the military museum, the Jewish

museum, Belvedere and of course a taste of the magnificent Viennese

coffee culture. The students boldly entered into the spirit of learning

all things new! All in all, a truly enriching experience for girls and staff

alike.

West Side StoryParliamentweek

Having already clinched the very first interview

with new Headmistress Mrs Brown, Year 12

students Ellie and Helena set off on another

mission in early December. This time it was the

Houses of Parliament on which they set their

sights, to interview Anne Main, MP for

St Albans. Despite severe train delays, they

managed to keep their appointment with the

industrious MP and sat down to sift through

some grilling questions. They discussed and

debated issues such as women in Parliament,

the diverse role of an MP, the legal voting age

and lost dogs! They also explored pertinent

local St Albans issues and of course the

forthcoming General Election.

Mrs Main proved to be a passionate, robust

character, providing the columnists with plenty

of copy which they will post into the careers

section of the VLE.

Co

mm

unit

y


10 St Albans High School for Girls | Sixth

Meeting Mrs Main, MP

Career awarenessfor Sixth Formers

During November, we were very grateful to a number of High

School parents who gave up their time to help Year 13 students

expecting an interview as part of the university admissions

process. Those aiming for a place to study medicine, as well as

those who had applied to Oxford and Cambridge for law, history

and languages, all benefitted from the expertise parents were

able to bring to a mock interview.

Our aim is to build on this success in the next academic year and

we would like to invite any parents who have not already been

in touch, to contact us if they feel able to provide input into the

career awareness and advice provided for High School pupils.

The main school production organised lastterm by the Drama Department was WestSide Story.

The production, one of the

most challenging undertaken,

showcased girls’ talents in all

three performance disciplines;

acting, dance and music.

Nina and Jessica performed their role of the

tragic couple Tony and Maria with a maturity

beyond their years.

The whole cast and crew worked incredibly hard

to produce a thoroughly memorable performance.

Ms N Taylor-Imrie

Head of ACE and Careers

[email protected]

Mr R Hillebrand

Oxbridge Co-ordinator

[email protected]

We believe that High School

students should be engaged

citizens. Supporting this aim,

five students attended a

workshop sponsored by

the UK and European

Parliaments in which the

participants were asked to

consider how democracy

might be promoted and

present their ideas. Ella and

Rebecca both received a

book in recognition of

their particularly strong

contribution to the event

on the day.

Multi-faith assembly

Much of last term revolved around hard work

and university applications, but, true to form

our Sixth Formers managed to find time for

a range of fun, fundraising activities. Girls

wore pink to raise money for Breast Cancer

awareness, PJs to raise money for Children in

Need, organised a Christmas party for

residents of Strathmore Lodge complete with

carol singing and musical interludes and also

managed to raise money for the Home Start

charity, which supports young families in the

St Albans area. The girls’ efforts have resulted

in over £750 being donated to charitable

causes. Life in the Sixth Form… so much

more than just work.


With complex choreography,courtesy of Miss Pritchard, it waswonderful to have our youngdancers relishing such a challenge.

There were also notable performances

from Melissa as Jets’ gang leader Riff and

Charlotte as Anita.

By Gemma & Claire, Year 12

Life in theSixth Form...

At the Induction Day held at Willen Lakes

in September, the new Year 12 girls went

from tree to tree like Tarzan, paddled kayaks

like Olympic rowers and made rafts like

fairly novice raftbuilders.

... so much morethan just work

Senior St Albans High School for Girls | Sixth 11

“I have been attending the multi-faith

assemblies since Year 7, and since then each

assembly has explored a wide range of

religious, ethical and thought-provoking

topics. They look at issues outside the

school curriculum and really encourage the

students to form opinions about current

and sometimes challenging topics. Recently,

we were fortunate enough to have a

fascinating speaker to come and talk to us

about Human Rights. Steve engaged us with

the history of Human Rights, followed by an

interactive workshop which we all really

enjoyed.”

“I really enjoy going to multi-faith assemblies

because every issue we cover is interesting

and can still spark conversation years later.”

Sports tours

Congratulations to the

U15 Netball team for

beating St George’s

College, Weybridge to

reach the quarter-finals

of the Independent

Schools Netball Cup. A

wonderful achievement

to be in the last eight of

a national competition.

They will play Millfield

School in the next round

in January.

It was a busy term for both the Parents’ Association and the

Old Girls’ Association.

The OGA’s annual reunion in

September saw a host of Old Girls

from across the decades returning

to school to reunite with old

friends, meet the new Head and

take a trip down memory lane as

they toured the school.

The annual fireworks extravaganza, organised by the PA in

November, was spectacular with over 700 people attending

on a cold, crisp night to see the

sports field lit up with a fantastic

display set to music.

Prep and Senior School parents

joined together in December for

an evening of Christmas wreath

making; a great start to the festive

season with some amazing

wreaths at the end of the night.

December also saw the Class of 2014 leavers’ drinks party,

hosted by the OGA to welcome its newest members. 36 of

the recent Year 13 leavers came along and enjoyed a lovely

evening catching up in St Albans.

Funds raised by the PA were used to buy 3 defibrillator kits

to supplement the school’s medical provision. These will be

kept at both the Prep and Senior School sites, and a number

of staff across the school are being trained in their use.

Forthcoming events

Parents Association (PA) [email protected]

• Summer Ball: Saturday 20 June 2015

The Conservatory, Luton Hoo

• Wheathampstead House Easter Fair : 21 March 2015

Old Girls’ Association (OGA) [email protected]

• Older and Wiser Ladies (OWLs) lunch: 13 March 2015

Association update


12 St Albans High School for Girls

Netball

The Senior Freestyle Relay team was placed 2nd in the regional

English Schools Swimming Association Team Championships.

Progressing to the finals, which took place at the London 2012

Olympic pool, they finished an impressive 14th in the country.

Swimming nationalfinals

The indoor lacrosseteams recently competedin the County Indoor

Tournaments with greatsuccess. The 2nd teamand U15A teams wereboth undefeated and wontheir tournaments, while the 1st team and U15B teams narrowly missedout on the top spot and were placed 2nd.

The 1st, U15 and U14 teams all competed in the Abbot’s Hill InvitationalTournament. The 1st team played well in all matches, but narrowly lostout to North London Collegiate School and finished as runners-up. TheU15 team won two of their matches, making improvements throughoutthe day, focusing on different elements of the game and bringing ideasfrom training to competitive situations. The U14 team was undefeatedthroughout the day, but narrowly missed out on winning the tournamentthrough goal difference and was placed 2nd.

Regional trampolining champion

Senior PE

At the start of the

summer holidays, girls

from Years 9, 10 and 11

enjoyed a 16-night netball

tour to South Africa.

Combining netball, culture,

charity work and a game

reserve visit, the girls embraced the action-packed itinerary in true

High School spirit. The netball was of a high standard and our girls

rose to the challenge, winning a large proportion of matches and

importantly learning a great deal ready for the start of the new

season. We also continued our links with Goedgedacht Trust, a

charity project for rural farm children living in poverty. It was heart-

warming to see the progress that has been made since our last

visit and we were pleased to make donations to support the

continuation of the work as a result of the fundraising we

completed prior to our visit.

During October half term

a mixed ability group went

to a tennis training camp

in Spain, playing around

20 hours of tennis over

the week. The quality of

coaching was extremely

high and the girls worked

very hard throughout the sessions, making excellent progress,

enjoying learning new skills and techniques.

Indoor Lacrosse County winners

Lacrosse

Lucy represented the school in the regional

round of the National Trampolining

Championships in December. She won the

competition with a score of 52.6, beating

over 80 other girls from across the region

and will represent the Eastern region in the

zonal round in January in Cambridge.

South Africa netball tour

Marbella tennis tour

Documents

St Albans High School for Girls January 2015 Newsletter